Wheeled vehicles have wheel assemblies, which usually consist of a rubber tire connected to a metal wheel rim. The metal wheel rim, which is often steel or aluminum, is equipped with an array of holes. The wheel assembly is fitted to the vehicle by aligning the holes in the wheel rim with studs mounted in a hub assembly. Once the holes in the wheel rim have been aligned with the studs, the wheel assembly is placed onto the hub assembly causing the studs to extend through the holes in the wheel rim. The wheel is then secured onto the hub assembly with lug nuts tightened onto the studs.
From time to time, and for various reasons, the studs may need to be replaced. For example, a stud may break. In other instances, the threads on the stud, to which the lug nuts attach, may become stripped or otherwise damaged.
Often, the studs are bolts that extend through a flat disc portion of the hub assembly. Often, the studs are press fit into the holes in the flat disc portion of the hub assembly. On one side of the flat portion of the hub assembly, the studs have heads. The heads prevent the studs from moving completely through the hub and permit the wheel assembly to be tightly attached to the hub assembly when the nuts are torqued onto the studs.
Because the studs are often press fit into their respective holes in the hub assembly, installing and removing studs to and from the hub assembly may be difficult to do by hand.
Some tools have been developed in order to facilitate installing and removing studs from the hub assembly. Some known systems use tools that grip the stud by the threads and apply force through the studs via the threads to install or remove the stud. While these systems may work well in some applications, other applications may lend themselves to be well served by tool systems that remove or install the stud by applying force to the stud at places other than the threads.
An issue to consider is that the studs are installed on a flat disc portion of the hub assembly. The flat disc portion of the hub assembly may be subject to being warped or otherwise deformed if a tool installing or removing a stud applies an undesirable amount of force to the flat disc portion of the hub assembly. Thus, a system that supports the hub or reduces the force applied to the hub is desired. Moreover, a system and method that is relatively simple and easy to use is desired.